National eHealth Capacity Roadmap

In support of AeHIN's Strategic Action Points, we are pleased to share an updated roadmap of action for eHealth success. This roadmap starts with the WHO-ITU National eHealth Strategy Toolkit and shows a systematic progression from strategy to implementation hinged on capacity-building.

Several Asian countries had been guided towards their national eHealth strategy in 2013 through the WHO-ITU National eHealth Strategy Toolkit. This served as the kick-off for a series of training activities crafted to equip countries with the capacity to convert their national health strategies into a set of IT programs. Some of these countries have commenced their eHealth journey and have taken the steps towards building the necessary knowledge and skills required to ensure successful eHealth implementation.

Clink on the logos in the diagram above for corresponding links.

IT governance is "leadership, organisational structures and processes to ensure that the organisation's IT sustains and extends the organisation's strategies and objectives" (Board Briefing on IT Governance. ISACA). AeHIN is applying the Control Objectives for Information and related Technologies certification program for IT Governance capacity-building.

Enterprise architecture is "a well-defined practice for conducting enterprise analysis, design, planning, and implementation, using a holistic approach at all times, for the successful development and execution of strategy. Enterprise Architecture applies architecture principles and practices to guide organizations through the business, information, process, and technology changes necessary to execute their strategies. These practices utilize the various aspects of an enterprise to identify, motivate, and achieve these changes." (Federation of EA Professional Organizations, Common Perspectives on Enterprise Architecture, Architecture and Governance Magazine, Issue 9-4, November 2013 (2013). Retrieved on 2013-11-19.) AeHIN is applying The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) for EA capacity-building.

These two foundational programs formalize a capacity-building framework that exposes the requisite knowledge and skills for effective eHealth strategy implementation. Equipped with this framework, countries can better plan and invest resources towards successful eHealth implementations.

The other training programs (ISO 13606, HL7, IHE, PMP, ITIL, PRINCE2, etc) may be directly accessed by countries that have already reached the stage of routine operations and innovation of their national eHealth programs.

eHealth Resources

eHealth is the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) for health. Examples include treating patients, conducting research, educating the health workforce, tracking diseases and monitoring public health (WHO, 2010).

AeHIN is an instrumental node for facilitating the 2013 Global Observatory of eHealth (GoE) survey to countries in the region. GoE, a WHO initiative which started in 2005,generally aims to provide countries with strategic information and evidence that will support policies and interventions on eHealth.